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Silma Nature Reserve
Silma Nature Reserve is a nature reserve situated in south-western Estonia, in Lääne County. Silma nature reserve covers a vast expanse of lagoons, waterways, islets and coastal meadows, making the area an ideal stopover for migratory birds, with up to 24 percent of the area covered in reed beds. It is considered the second most important area for birds in Western Estonia, second only to Matsalu National Park Matsalu National Park (previously Matsalu Nature Reserve, et, Matsalu rahvuspark, often just Matsalu) is a nature reserve and national park situated in Lääne and Pärnu Counties, Estonia. Matsalu National Park spans an area of , comprising M ..., and of international importance. It owes its unusual geographical and natural features to the very strong post-glacial rebound in the area, creating lakes and lagoons of areas that were until recently parts of the sea. In addition to 225 different observed species of birds, the nature reserve also plays a function as a f ...
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Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Lake Peipus and Russia. The territory of Estonia consists of the mainland, the larger islands of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, and over 2,200 other islands and islets on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea, covering a total area of . The capital city Tallinn and Tartu are the two largest urban areas of the country. The Estonian language is the autochthonous and the official language of Estonia; it is the first language of the majority of its population, as well as the world's second most spoken Finnic language. The land of what is now modern Estonia has been inhabited by '' Homo sapiens'' since at least 9,000 BC. The medieval indigenous population of Estonia was one of the last " pagan" civilisations in Europe to adopt Ch ...
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Haapsalu
Haapsalu () is a seaside resort town located on the west coast of Estonia. It is the administrative centre of Lääne County, and on 1 January 2020 it had a population of 9,375. Description Haapsalu has been well known for centuries for its warm seawater, curative mud and peaceful atmosphere. Salt mud spas frequented by the Russian Romanov family still operate. Narrow streets with early 20th century wooden houses lead to the sea. Haapsalu has been called the "Venice of the Baltics", although this claim has been criticized as an exaggeration. The name "Haapsalu" is from Estonian ''haab'' 'aspen' and ''salu'' 'grove.' In Swedish and German, the town is called ''Hapsal'', and in Russian it is Га́псаль (''Gapsal''). History The town dates back to 1279, when it was chartered and became the centre of the Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek, which it remained for the next 300 years. Buildings from those early days remain today, including an episcopal castle which has the largest singl ...
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Lääne County
Lääne County ( et, Lääne maakond or ''Läänemaa'', literally "Western land"; german: Wiek; la, Rotalia) is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is located in western Estonia and borders the Baltic Sea to the north, Harju County to the north-east, Rapla County to the east, Pärnu County to the south, and the island counties of Saare and Hiiu to the west. In January 2009 Lääne County had a population of 23,810 – constituting 2.0% of the total population in Estonia. County government The County Government ( et, Maavalitsus) is led by a governor ( et, maavanem), who is appointed by the Government of Estonia for a term of five years. Since 15 December 2011, the governorship has been held by Innar Mäesalu. Maavanem 1918–1941 *Aleksander Saar 1917–1927 *Artur Kasterpalu 1930–1941 Maavanem 1993–present * Andres Lipstok 14 December 1993 – 12 August 1994 * Hannes Danilov 1 November 1994 – 3 January 1999 * Arder Väli 23 February 1999 – 20 July 1999 * Jaanus Sahk ...
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Reed Bed
A reedbed or reed bed is a natural habitat found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions and estuaries. Reedbeds are part of a succession from young reeds colonising open water or wet ground through a gradation of increasingly dry ground. As reedbeds age, they build up a considerable litter layer that eventually rises above the water level and that ultimately provides opportunities in the form of new areas for larger terrestrial plants such as shrubs and trees to colonise. Artificial reedbeds are used to remove pollutants from greywater, and are also called constructed wetlands. Types Reedbeds vary in the species that they can support, depending upon water levels within the wetland system, climate, seasonal variations, and the nutrient status and salinity of the water. ''Reed swamps'' have 20 cm or more of surface water during the summer and often have high invertebrate and bird species use. ''Reed fens'' have water levels at or below the surface during the summer and ...
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Matsalu National Park
Matsalu National Park (previously Matsalu Nature Reserve, et, Matsalu rahvuspark, often just Matsalu) is a nature reserve and national park situated in Lääne and Pärnu Counties, Estonia. Matsalu National Park spans an area of , comprising Matsalu Bay, the Kasari River delta, the village of Matsalu and surrounding areas. Matsalu Bay is one of the most important wetland bird areas in Europe, due to its prime position on the East Atlantic Flyway. Large numbers of migratory birds use Matsalu as a staging area. Every spring over two million waterfowl pass Matsalu, of which around 1.6 million are long-tailed ducks. Matsalu National Park is a home for a number of endangered species, many of which are listed in the Estonian IUCN Red List, including the white-tailed eagle of the highest conservation category, a lot of bird species of the second and third protection categories, 22 strongly protected plant species, the natterjack toad, and ten species of mammals of the second conser ...
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Post-glacial Rebound
Post-glacial rebound (also called isostatic rebound or crustal rebound) is the rise of land masses after the removal of the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period, which had caused isostatic depression. Post-glacial rebound and isostatic depression are phases of glacial isostasy (glacial isostatic adjustment, glacioisostasy), the deformation of the Earth's crust in response to changes in ice mass distribution. The direct raising effects of post-glacial rebound are readily apparent in parts of Northern Eurasia, Northern America, Patagonia, and Antarctica. However, through the processes of ''ocean siphoning'' and ''continental levering'', the effects of post-glacial rebound on sea level are felt globally far from the locations of current and former ice sheets.Milne, G.A., and J.X. Mitrovica (2008) ''Searching for eustasy in deglacial sea-level histories.'' Quaternary Science Reviews. 27:2292–2302. Overview During the last glacial period, much of northern Eu ...
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Saare, Lääne County
Saare ( sv, Lyckholm, german: Lückholm) is a village in Lääne-Nigula Parish, Lääne County, in western Estonia. Private Lyckholm Airfield (ICAO: EELU) is located in the village. Saare manor Saare manor was established in 1622. The last owners before the Estonian land reform in 1919 was the von Rosen family. During the 20th century, the manor fell into disrepair and eventually collapsed. Gustav von Rosen Gustav, Gustaf or Gustave may refer to: * Gustav (name), a male given name of Old Swedish origin Art, entertainment, and media * ''Primeval'' (film), a 2007 American horror film * ''Gustav'' (film series), a Hungarian series of animated short car ..., who as a child grew up in the manor house, bought the ruins in 1996 and rebuilt the manor in 2001. Today, there is a visitors' centre for the nearby Silma Nature Reserve located in the manor. References External linksSaare manorat Estonian Manors Portal Villages in Lääne County Manor houses in Estonia ...
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Birdwatching
Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, by listening for bird sounds, or by watching public webcams. Most birdwatchers pursue this activity for recreational or social reasons, unlike ornithologists, who engage in the study of birds using formal scientific methods. Birding, birdwatching, and twitching The first recorded use of the term ''birdwatcher'' was in 1901 by Edmund Selous; ''bird'' was introduced as a verb in 1918. The term ''birding'' was also used for the practice of ''fowling'' or hunting with firearms as in Shakespeare's '' The Merry Wives of Windsor'' (1602): "She laments sir... her husband goes this morning a-birding." The terms ''birding'' and ''birdwatching'' are today used by some interchangeably, although some participants prefer ''birding'', partly because it ...
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Nature Reserves In Estonia
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are part of nature, human activity is often understood as a separate category from other natural phenomena. The word ''nature'' is borrowed from the Old French ''nature'' and is derived from the Latin word ''natura'', or "essential qualities, innate disposition", and in ancient times, literally meant "birth". In ancient philosophy, ''natura'' is mostly used as the Latin translation of the Greek word ''physis'' (φύσις), which originally related to the intrinsic characteristics of plants, animals, and other features of the world to develop of their own accord. The concept of nature as a whole, the physical universe, is one of several expansions of the original notion; it began with certain core applications of the word φύσις by pre-Socr ...
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Geography Of Lääne County
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. The first recorded use of the word γεωγραφία was as a title of a book by Greek scholar Eratosthenes (276–194 BC). Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding of Earth and its human and natural complexities—not merely where objects are, but also how they have changed and come to be. While geography is specific to Earth, many concepts can be applied more broadly to other celestial bodies in the field of planetary science. One such concept, the first law of geography, proposed by Waldo Tobler, is "everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things." Geography has been called "the world discipline" and "the bridge between the human and th ...
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Landforms Of Lääne County
A landform is a natural or anthropogenic land feature on the solid surface of the Earth or other planetary body. Landforms together make up a given terrain, and their arrangement in the landscape is known as topography. Landforms include hills, mountains, canyons, and valleys, as well as shoreline features such as bays, peninsulas, and seas, including submerged features such as mid-ocean ridges, volcanoes, and the great ocean basins. Physical characteristics Landforms are categorized by characteristic physical attributes such as elevation, slope, orientation, stratification, rock exposure and soil type. Gross physical features or landforms include intuitive elements such as berms, mounds, hills, ridges, cliffs, valleys, rivers, peninsulas, volcanoes, and numerous other structural and size-scaled (e.g. ponds vs. lakes, hills vs. mountains) elements including various kinds of inland and oceanic waterbodies and sub-surface features. Mountains, hills, plateaux, and plains are the fou ...
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Wetlands Of Estonia
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The primary factor that distinguishes wetlands from terrestrial land forms or Body of water, water bodies is the characteristic vegetation of aquatic plants, adapted to the unique anoxic hydric soils. Wetlands are considered among the most biologically diverse of all ecosystems, serving as home to a wide range of plant and animal species. Methods for assessing wetland functions, wetland ecological health, and general wetland condition have been developed for many regions of the world. These methods have contributed to wetland conservation partly by raising public awareness of the functions some wetlands provide. Wetlands occur naturally on every continent. The water in wetlands is either freshwater, brackish or saltwater. The main wetland t ...
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